Reborn
by Ink Stained Lily
Summary: Gwen appears to have been killed in an accident on a important mission. Ben/Kevin split up because of accident, until Kevin begins to realize that he and Ben must complete the mission by the encouragement of a mysterious person. K&G, please read/review.
1. Chapter 1

The three Plumbers sat hidden on a hilltop a mile from the DN Aliens Hatchery. From their viewpoint they could see more hatchlings being loaded onto trucks and to be shipped to all parts to steal human bodies. Their mood was serious since this mission was very important to decreasing the number of humans changed into DN Aliens. This particular and most unique hatchery was a big producer of the evil mutants.

"Alright," Ben glanced over at his team to give his speech on their plan of strategy "we'll sneak in through the loading docks to get inside, Kevin you'll lead us to the burner and then we'll set up the bomb there. The pipes flowing with the chemicals there will react strongly with the explosion from the bomb, which will be big enough to destroy this whole place. All we have to do is get in and out without alerting any one of those mutants standing guard." Ben looked at Gwen to give her specific objective in their mission. "Gwen you'll scout ahead of us and make sure anyone coming our way doesn't get too close to us." Gwen nodded. "Good, Kevin you and I our going to make sure the bomb doesn't go off before it's suppose to, and to help out Gwen if it gets a little dicey in there. That's all we have to do, now Kevin what were you saying we had to do before we go inside?"

Kevin responded with. "We need to see the burner go off before we head inside, and when it goes off this time it'll give us one hour before it goes off again. We'll need to see it to get a better idea of its location."

"How will know when it's going off?" Gwen asked.

"Oh trust me, you'll know." Kevin stated winking at her lightening the tense anticipation slightly.

Suddenly a low rumbling roar was coming from the heart of the facility. It grew steadily louder until the noise seemed too suppressed that it could no longer be contained within the building. Suddenly a tower of fire sprouted from the center of the building growing into its full monstrous roar that reached them and beyond.

Gwen almost screamed, if it hadn't been for Kevin placing a hand over her mouth before she could release her surprised terror.

"Do you want them to find us before we even get in the place?" He asked with his hand still covering her mouth and an arm around her shoulder.

Gwen pushed his hand away from her lips. "I doubt they would've been able to hear me over that noise. What do they need that thing for anyway?"

"They have to release the built up of energy and chemicals they use or else they'll be the ones to cause an explosion."

"Pay attention you two! The burner is almost out!" Ben snapped at them.

Kevin returned his attention back to building, but his arm remained wrapped around her. He scrutinized it quickly, but earned enough information to help them with the situation.

"It's in the center of the building so it will be hard to get around all the guards standing in our way. Not to mention all the ones that'll be keeping a close watch on the burner."

"How will we escape?" Ben asked.

"That's easy, Gwen can use her powers to get us out through the chimney of the burner, or you could fly yourself out if you want Ben."

Ben smiled glad to find that their plan could work out very well if they stayed undetected and got to their target within the next hour.

They knew the consequences of failing this mission, but they didn't expect that their failure tonight would lose them more than expected.

WWWWWWWWWW

As they crept through the loading dock, the spiral of flame had faded down and back into the heart of the building.

Passing by the aliens was easy in there, all were too busy loading up there little mutant pods that the young plumbers went by unnoticed. It took 10 minutes to pass through there.

As they traveled through the labyrinth of hallways and secret rooms there was more difficulty.

Gwen knocked out each alien that came there way, and Ben and Kevin guarded the bomb only fighting when one of the aliens got too close to it. No alarms had gone off yet, but soon or later the unconscious aliens would wake up and send the alert out. They spent 15 minutes doing this before an alarm went off.

Aliens swarmed around them, making protecting the bomb much more troublesome. They fended off enough to run away quickly enough to find a quiet place to hide so things could calm down enough for them to get back out there. 5 minutes it took to fend them off, and 10 minutes of hiding before continuing their mission.

As soon as they left their hiding spot, they realized they didn't know where they were in the building. This led to wrong turns, right turns, and then wrong turns again. Bickering wasted a good 7 minutes of the Plumbers precious time. In total they lost 17 minutes with this wandering, and then finally they were running dead on towards the burner.

"There it is!" Kevin yelled. "We've got to hurry; we only have about 3 minutes left!"

15 aliens at that exact moment jumped out in front of them blocking the entire hallway.

The 1 alien in front stepped up closer to them. "Surrender now foolish humans, and our leader we give you a quick death for your pointless attempt at destroying us!" He ordered.

For a response Ben transformed into Echo-Echo and was breathing in to give out a good loud wail, but one of the mutants blasted him with his gun before the terrible screaming agony good begin. Gwen ran forward blasting the alien weapons straight out of their claws. Kevin continued to hold the bomb, wishing he could have a chance to hit something too.

Gwen rushed forward blasting away every alien to clear a pathway for Kevin and the bomb. As she neared the edge of the burner the aliens blocking her way suddenly jumped out of the way screeching something in their own language.

The 1 alien that kept his gun understood what the message meant. He shot her onto the burner.

Gwen landed hard onto the burner. The sneak attack left her in a daze before she realized what had happened.

"Gwen!" Kevin yelled bringing her out of her temporary daze. "Catch!" Throwing the bomb to her now that she was on the target, she used powers to reach out and catch it, but was stopped when the force shield around the burner deflected her beam of energy and the bomb away from her.

3 minutes it took for her to get through the swarm.

Kevin's face paled, not because a bomb was now beeping threateningly a few feet away from him, but because Gwen was now trapped in a machine that could melt a person's flesh off.

"Gwen! Get out of there now!" He ordered, grabbing Ben's small unconscious form and running as far away as he could before the bomb exploded, blinding their forms from Gwen's sight.

"Ben! Kevin!'' Gwen yelled worried about what happened to them.

She didn't realize that she had to escape at once until the ground beneath began to glow a light orange under the grate she stood on. Steps of purple energy formed to help guide herself out, but the roar of the flames was building fast behind her. She could see the starry night above her, but Gwen still felt the heat of the fire at her back.

WWWWWWWW

Kevin and Ben were blasted through the air from the force of the explosion. It landed them at the end of hall way up against the wall. Ben remained unconscious, while Kevin felt bruises preparing to sprout over his skin and a definitely broken arm. He got up slowly sore from the landing. Kevin grabbed Ben with his good arm and throwing him over that good shoulder ignoring the pain he felt in his other arm. He ran back towards the way they came hoping the loading docks would be scarce of aliens now that they caused a major scene in the center of the building.

Ben began to stir, and he transformed back into his normal body. The weight change caused Kevin to fall down dropping Ben in the process. Ben groaned pushing himself off the ground and examining his surroundings.

"Where are we?"

"Somewhere in this freaking building is where we are!" Kevin replied harshly.

"Jeesh, what happened to you?" Ben asked now looking at Kevin.

"We got blown up, without even blowing up the whole building! Now quick asking stupid questions and let's get out of here without getting caught." Kevin said getting up quickly despite the pain he felt even as he pulled up Ben along with him.

The two found their way back to the loading dock which was scarce of the aliens as Kevin hoped. They ran back up to the hill that they three of them had stood on before, but now only the two of them stood on it.

Ben noticed the absence. "Where's Gwen?"

"She has to escape through the chimney of the burner."

Ben then noticed that noise around them was the same sound that happened before the bursts from the chimney. "Is she still in there?!" Ben asked panicked.

Kevin was looking at the badges glowing locators. "Yeah, but she's almost out don't worry." He said hiding his internal panic.

"Worry?! Kevin it's getting louder she has to get out soon."

"I know." Kevin closed his eyes and said a silent prayer.

It was growing louder and louder that Kevin almost didn't hear Ben yell that he saw her. He eyes flashed open immediately.

Gwen's head popped out, and then the rest of her appeared as she stepped out the large chimney onto her steps she produced, but the fire was coming to its full roar.

It came bursting out of the chimney, shattering her purple platform, it swallowed hold of her feet causing her to scream out but not be heard, and then all of her was soon engulfed in the flame.


	2. Chapter 2

Kevin was in the garage trying to work on his car in his garage, but his lack of a working right arm made it very difficult to get work done. His frustration prompted Kevin to start his fourth beer that morning, and it was only ten thirty a.m. The liquid drug numbed Kevin of his frustration. This morning he decided to continue drinking to help ease the pain of his hangover, his reasons for drinking the night before he could no longer remember.

Feet shuffling across the cement floor brought Kevin's impaired attention to the entryway of his garage. His friend Ben Tennyson came into his place, and his appearance, in his drunken haze, made him chuckle. Ben wore black suit and tie with polished shoes, and his expression was so serious and angry at the same time.

"Why don't look so grown up today." Kevin gibed. "I didn't even know you owned a suit."

Ben only glared at him.

Kevin continued to chuckle. "Why so mad all of a sudden?" Ben continued to glare. "What did I do Tennyson?" Kevin asked finally asked.

Ben's stone like face finally moved when he answered coldly. "I just got back from the funeral. I was worried about you since you didn't show your face there, and I thought that I'd check to make sure you didn't accidently drink yourself away to the grave either." He was looking at the six-pack on the work bench that had four beers missing.

Kevin now glared at Ben. Mad that Ben brought the real reason for his drinking this morning.

"How can you even have a funeral without a body." Kevin stated darkly, trying to provoke him now.

"Kevin shut up! You should have been there!" Ben was yelling now. "Gwen's dead, and you're just wasting yourself away here, how would Gwen feel-." A punch to jaw quieted his rant.

Ben fell back onto the floor as Kevin towered over his hand still a fist.

"Don't say that name…don't say that name!" He shouted at Ben.

"Kevin…you need to get help. You can't deal with grief this way, you got to talk to someone."

"Who? You?! No way in hell that's happening." Ben stood back up from the floor. Kevin took two menacing steps towards him. "Get out, and if I see your face around here again I won't hesitate to hit you."

"Fine," He said turning away and walking to the door, but he paused before he left "but if you do go see her grave, try to be sober, she deserves that much respect from you." He ran away then as Kevin picked up a wrench and threw it at him with all his might, but missed terribly.

Kevin was about to take another swig, but he hesitated.

Gwen.

Her death was too much for him to handle, and it was too soon to expect anything like that to happen to any one of them, to die, and not even under a more normal circumstance.

Drinking the pain away made him feel better. Before this Kevin drank whenever he felt like it, just for fun. Gwen was the one that convinced him to quit doing that, but now it was used more as a medicine than a casual drink.

Kevin looked at the bottle in his hand, fiercely debating what he should do with it. Take the swig he desperately wanted or toss it.

It broke into glass shards as it hit the bottom of the can.

WWWWWWWWWW

Kevin spent the rest of the day trying to become more sober than he was that morning, so he could visit the graveyard. He drank coffee and nothing else, slept, took a cold shower and than an incredibly hot one, and some water with aspirin. He eventually felt normal enough that he could go to her grave.

No matter how ready he was by Ben's standards Kevin felt incredibly intimidated by his journey to the cemetery. So he brought a bottle of Jack Daniel's along with him.

Besides the bottle of liquor he brought along with him a single yellow rose, her favorite kind.

It was nighttime which increased creeping feeling as he walked to her monument of death. No one was in sight, but Kevin felt uncomfortable here. Even though everyone here was dead, he couldn't help but feel like they were all watching him.

Gwen's grave wasn't hard to spot. It was the only one that still covered in lilies that had not wilted yet.

Her tombstone was a grey stone, with an inscription that read _Gwendolyn Tennyson _and below her name it said_ Beloved Daughter, Friend, and a Plumber. _

The last one he thought would be funny to those who didn't quite understand the words true meaning.

Kevin placed the rose inside one of the vases overstuffed with white lilies. The yellow flower stood out among all the white.

He then stared at the grave that lacked the remains of the deceased. Trying to find the feeling of closure Ben wanted him to obtain, but nothing came. He only felt that this was all so wrong, and none of this could be real.

These feelings brought back all the pain he tried to numb, but now this made it all too real.

Kevin grabbed at the bottle of Jack Daniel's breaking open the seal. He felt the need for it now more than ever, but like earlier Kevin hesitated. Standing in front of Gwen's grave doing something she would disapprove made him feel guilty. He turned his back to her grave, and spoke aloud to no one else but her.

"I'm sorry Gwen, but I can't keep my promise." He tilted the bottle to take the first sip, and with the sip he would continue to break his promise to her. The one he made after that insanely wild party long ago before all the pain begun, she helped him recover from that night of drinking, and she made him promise to stop doing that to himself. He had kept that promise till her death, and now he would break it once again.

Before the liquid even fell from the bottle the sound of glass slowly breaking came to his ears. He opened his eyes to see for a split second glowing purple cracks, and then the entire bottle shattered spilling all its contents onto him instead of him drinking it all in.

Kevin was shocked by what he saw.

"Gwen?!" He yelled out for her, knowing only she would do that, but there was no response.

WWWWWWWWWW

Much of Ben's family, and close friends of the family, had gathered at his house to grieve and remember Gwen fondly. His only job was to serve beverages and comfort those very grieved by Gwen's death. He was busy pouring glasses of red wine for some of the older members of his family when the pounding on the door began. Everyone else there was either talking about Gwen or crying for the loss of her.

The sound of banging and yelling of Ben's name made everyone go quiet. Shocked at why someone could be obnoxious enough to disturb there moments of grieving. Ben walked quickly over to door recognizing the voice yelling for him, and everyone else's eyes followed. He opened it hesitantly wondering if his friend was in any better condition than this morning.

As soon as the door opened slightly Kevin pushed his way in, reeking of whisky.

Ben's suspicions we're confirmed by the smell and crazy expression on Kevin's face.

"Ben you won't believe what just happened!" Kevin exclaimed.

"Kevin if you hadn't notice this is not a good time to for one have my friend's to show up drunk at my house!" Ben whispered angrily trying not to get the rest of his family more upset by this. "Leave us alone, and I'll come and talk to you in the morning."

"Ben I'm not drunk, the bottle broke and it all spilled on me, but that's has do with what I'm about to tell you. Gwen's alive she cracked the bottle with her powers!"

Everyone gasped surprised that someone would have the audacity to say something like that at a time like this.

"Kevin I need to talk to you outside." Ben said not annoyed but angry. He pushed Kevin out front who didn't try to resist or fight back as he normally would. As soon as they were out front on Ben's lawn they're angry discussion continue.

Ben looked him straight in the eyes madder than he had ever been at Kevin.

"Kevin, I know you're bold person, but saying something like that in front of my family! That was over the line! Get out of here, I really don't need more crap like this from you, I already have enough to deal with since Gwen's-." He wavered thinking about what Kevin said when he came in. He knew he couldn't believe something as crazy as that, especially when he saw what happened first hand.

Kevin took advantage of his silence. "I swear I'm not lying to you Ben, or drunk. I went to go see Gwen's grave, I made myself sober like you said, but I brought a bottle of liquor with me in case I needed it. Well I just…I got to the point where I couldn't take it anymore. I was about to take a swig when it started to crack and it was glowing purple too! It had to have been her, it just had to be."

Ben absorbed all this, wanting to believe every word of what that Kevin just said. "Kevin just go, I really can't deal with this right now."

"Ben you have to-."

"Just leave already Kevin, make this easy and leave me and my family alone."

WWWWWWWWWW

Hoped you like this, sorry I didn't update sooner, please review


	3. Chapter 3

After the incident with Kevin arriving at his house drunk, Ben went to go see Gwen's grave. He left for the cemetery at mid-afternoon the day after Kevin's stunt.

Ben hitched a ride with his girl friend Julie on her scooter. When they arrived she asked whether he would like her to stay with him.

"Thanks Julie, but I really need to be alone with Gwen." It didn't feel complete to say that since she wasn't placed to rest in the earth. "I'll call if I need a ride or I'll just walk home."

Julie looked at him sadly and placed her hand on his face to bring his gaze up from the ground to her eyes. He placed his hands over hers finding her touch comforting.

"Ben you know that if you need someone outside your family to talk to, you have me?"

"Of course I know Julie I just need more time to absorb what happened, and what is happening." Ben thought of Kevin as he added that last statement.

She smiled trying to reassure him that everything would be okay again, some day. Julie gave him hug and he embraced her. When their hug ended she drove away on her tiny motorized bike waving good bye.

Ben watched her leave before he began his walk through the maze of tombstones to his cousin's grave. When he reached it he paused and stood before it starring at this morbid monument.

"Hey Gwen." Ben finally said to it. He then bent down to sit cross-legged so this conversation was more comfortable.

Ben had to admit he felt awkward speaking to a tombstone, but he had a feeling that no matter where she rested she would have a way to hear him and maybe even send him a sign of what he should do.

"Things have been pretty bad since you…left." He began. "This has been really hard for me, and everyone else in our family Gwen. We miss you. I know where ever you are now that you're probably seeing what we've been feeling. I know we'll never get over loosing you Gwen, but I have a feeling we'll make it. The main reason I came was because of Kevin." Ben finally admits to his true purpose of coming to her grave, and then proceeded to confess his fears for his friend. "I'm scared he's going crazy or he's becoming an alcoholic. I'm trying to do what I can to help him, but after what happened last night I don't know what I can do. What should I do Gwen?" He asked hoping for some sort of sign.

Nothing came to him, except for very loud rustling in woods around the graveyard. At first he thought it was just some sort of animal, until the noise grew closer to him, towards the edge of the woods that was closest to Gwen's grave.

Ben stood up and listened closely. "Hello?!" He called out.

In response the scurrying noise grew louder and closer to him. Ben reached a hand over to the omnitrix anticipating a threat, but dismissed such thoughts when Kevin came out of the bushes.

"Hey Ben what are you doing here?" Kevin sounded strangely upbeat.

It took him a moment before he could respond. "I came to talk to Gwen for a little awhile." He watched expectantly for Kevin's fist to take another swing at him, but Kevin only frowned and seemed confused.

"You know I came to talk with the tombstone, as though I were talking to her." Ben explained perplexed by Kevin's even greater decrease in common sense.

"Why?" Kevin asked still appearing to be confused.

"Why?" Ben repeated growing angry. "Because I need someone to talk to that always helped me in tough situations like the one I'm in now, but I have to settle for this because she's dead!"

"What are you talking about?" Kevin asked. "Didn't you listen to me last night, Gwen's alive."

Ben sighed, his hopes that Kevin's statements were because he was drunk were now obliterated.

"That is what I came to talk to Gwen about. About how my friend is going crazy because of her death, something that he's having difficulty excepting, even though he saw her die, and how I'm wishing that his only problem would be drinking."

"She isn't dead." Kevin said again. "I'm not crazy, and haven't had a sip of liquor since yesterday morning."

"I'm surprised you actually remember yesterday, and what was with that little stunt last night? My family was really upset and you made it worse. What the heck were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that my friend was alive and her cousin should know about it."

"Gwen is dead Kevin. We saw what happened, no one could have survived that, and what are you doing here anyway?" Ben asked remembering Kevin's strange entrance.

Kevin turned back towards the woods before responding. "I'm looking for her. Gwen has to be out there in the woods. She must be hiding for some reason, and she probably saw me last night when I came here. I bet she was mad that I about to down a whole bottle of Jack Daniel's, and then she used her powers to stop me."

"I think it's more likely that you just spilled some on yourself while you were drinking it" Ben accused.

"I didn't even get a drop!" Kevin yelled at him. "She stopped me, and was probably trying to send a message to me that she was alright." He concluded.

"Or you just imagined this whole incident. Kevin I'm being serious, you need help, go to therapy or something, but this isn't healthy at all. Join AA." Ben suggested.

"All I've drank is water. I'm not going to get hooked on alcohol, Gwen will kill me."

"She's dead! Why is it that you can't get that through your head Kevin?!"

"Because she isn't, and I'm going to find her, and I would like your help."

"I'm not helping you Kevin, unless it involves getting your head straight."

Kevin looked unhappy with Ben's response, but decided not to push him any further. "Fine, but if you change your mind come find me. I got to keep searching while the suns still up." The sun was beginning its descent from the east to western edge of the earth. Kevin went forward till he was at the edge of the trees before looking over his shoulder to say. "I'll see you around." Then he was gone searching for Gwen in the shelter of the trees.

Ben stood there thinking about everything that was happening.

Ben was beginning to believe that Kevin had kept sober since yesterday, but whether he was drunk or not at his house Ben still couldn't decide if what he said was true. To believe that he was telling the truth Ben would also have to believe that Gwen was alive, but that was something he couldn't believe.

He pulled out his cell phone and began dialing Julie's number. Ben asked for her to come back and get him, and also if they could go over to Mr. Smoothie's to talk about things. He needed someone else that could respond and say what they thought about his situation.

Ben started walking back to Gwen's grave to say good bye for now, but when he returned to where he stood before he gasped at what he saw on the ground.

From the earth grew a peculiar purple flower, and he recognized it to be the one Grandma Verdona had left for Grandpa Max. It hadn't been their when he arrived, and he only had been gone a few minutes. Who else could've left it here?

"Gwen?" Ben whispered not fully believing what he was saying, but he no longer felt that there wasn't a chance that Kevin could be speaking the truth.

WWWWWWWWWW

Finally updated, hope you like this new chapter, please review and give me your thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4

Ben waited anxiously for Julie to come back for him. He needed someone to talk to right now.

"Julie!" Ben called as she drove down the pavement to him.

"Hey Ben, are you ready to go home?"

"No actually do you mind if we go over to Mr. Smoothie's. I need to tell you about something, and I really need a smoothie right now.

Julie saw Ben was really anxious about something. "Sure, hop on." She handed him her extra helmet, and they rode in silence to Mr. Smoothie's.

They ordered strawberry banana smoothies and sat at one of the empty tables outside. Ben took a deep gulp before they started to talk about what was up.

"Ben is everything okay?" Julie asked.

Ben continued to sip a few more times before he sat his cup down and told her what was on his mind. "I think Kevin might be right."

"What is he right about?"

"That Gwen is still alive."

Julie was silent as she digested that piece of information. She found this upsetting.

"Ben you saw what happened to her, you said there was no way anyone could have survived that."

"I know, but it might be possible she lived."

"Trusting what Kevin says isn't enough to believe she might be alive."

"It's not just that Julie. When I was there Kevin came out of the woods. He said he was looking for Gwen, I still thought she was dead then so I told him he needed help."

"He does need help Ben."

"Just listen, he went back to looking for her so I called you to take me home, and then I went back to say bye to Gwen, and on ground in front of her tombstone was one of those purple mana flowers."

He expected that last part would erase some of Julie's doubts, but Julie still didn't find this to be enough proof.

"Verdona has been here since yesterday right?"

"Grandma doesn't leave until tonight."

"Maybe she left it there while you were talking to Kevin. She left them for Max so she'd probably leave some for Gwen too before she left."

"No, this couldn't have been one of her flowers. This one was deformed; it was made by an inexperienced annodite."

"Maybe she had difficulty because she just lost her granddaughter, couldn't focus."

"She did them right for Grandpa she could do them right for Gwen."

Julie shook her head. "Ben, listen to me. Kevin saying all this stuff about Gwen being alive is just giving you false hope. You want to believe it don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"You see, your just feeding that hope by thinking it might be possible. You probably don't have full closure yet of her passing."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, you haven't placed her to rest yet."

They were silent as Ben thought about Julie's views of the situation. Ben would always want what he saw that night to have ended differently.

Ben began to feel reassured that what Julie said was the truth.

"Ben I have an idea." Her tone was reluctant.

What was she not willing to say?

"What?"

"I have an idea about how you, and Kevin, can get full closure of what's happened."

"And it involves what?"

"I think, you both should go back to that hatchery, and find…her remains."

Ben was quiet.

His silence was long. Julie got nervous and began babbling about why he should go back. "Her remains could be recovered. I know it sounds really gruesome, but finding them may relieve you and Kevin of all this doubt. Well actually Kevin believes she's still alive, but it could help him in realizing that what he thinks is the truth is actually...not. I know it might be an impossible task to do, but maybe just going back will give you some closure."Julie pause hesitantly worried about his reaction to her suggestion. "Ben, please just say something."

Ben's voice came out hard. "I think what I should do is to go help Kevin." He got up and began walking away from the table.

Julie stood up too and called after him. "You don't mean helping him look do you?"

"Yeah" Continues to walk away.

"Ben no! I'm worried you'll get hurt even more." Julie grabs his arm and turns him to face her. "This could cause you a lot of emotional pain if you can't find her. If she was alive she would've come back."

"I'm sorry Julie, but we don't know that. I know there's a chance she is or isn't out there, I have to know which it is."

Julie was silent as she looked sadly at Ben. "Okay, here…" she hands him her keys "take my moped; I'll call my Mom to give me a ride home."

"Thanks." He gave her a hug and rode off back to the graveyard.

WWWWWWWW

"Gwen!" Kevin yelled. "You can come out now!"

It was dark out now; Kevin was flashing his flashlight into the shadows looking for some sign of his friend.

"Gwen, are you hurt? Give me some sort of sign so I can find you!" He looked around for something, but what he got wasn't what he expected.

A DN Alien jumped out of nowhere and charged at him. Kevin dodged out of the way and touched one of the nearby boulders to morph into his stone hard body.

"What are you doing here?!"

Not too far away he heard a familiar scream cry out.

_"Gwen." _He thought immediately.

Kevin ran in the direction of the cry. He knew there would be more aliens waiting for him, so he cried out. "You're not taking her away from me again!" When he came to where the noise first yelled out he found a group of aliens.

The only thing that held his attention in this group was the wrapped up, human like, bundle held in one of the alien's arms. It whimpered in pain.

"Gwen is that you!?"

He heard a faint "yes" come from the bundle.

"Let her go!" He bellowed at the one that held Gwen.

The only response Kevin got from it was "Capture him as well." It ordered. "He was involved with the attempted bombing of our hatchery."

Its comrades overtook him easily. Without someone to fight with him, Kevin was taken roughly by them and forced into the back of the truck. The one that still had Gwen came around and threw her in too.

When she fell on the floor of the truck she cried out in pain.

"Gwen, are you okay?" Kevin came over to help her sit up.

Gwen immediately scooted away and pulled the cloak more tightly around her body.

"What's wrong?" He asked moving closer. "What happened to you Gwen? Show me your face."

Silent sobs were heard from inside the cloak.

"Gwen, please." Kevin begged. "I thought you died."

"I'd rather be dead than what I am now!" She said still sobbing.

"Don't say that!"

"If I show you it'll frighten you." She warned him.

"I don't care. Please let me see your face."

It took Gwen a few moments to decide if she could trust he wouldn't react, or if she could take his reaction to her appearance.

Kevin waited in anticipation as she pulled the cloak off.

WWWWWWWWW

Jet Ray watched the truck as it began to drive back to the hatchery.

"Looks like my friends need a hero to save them." He flew after the truck preparing to attack.


	5. Chapter 5

The appearance that Gwen once had was the one that died in the fire. Only a few pieces remained clinging, refusing to die.

Half of her face was burned away, not revealing skull, but a dimly lit Annodite. That side was completely bald, but the other side still had pieces of scorched hair attached to the more human side of her face. That face still showed the structure of her former face, but it was severely burned.

The rest of her body was the same, burnt off in a few places with a few spots of her human body refusing to die. Kevin assumed this since Gwen was only willing to show her face. There was no way her clothes survived the incinerator so she used the cloak to cover up her naked burnt body.

Kevin showed no reaction to her appearance, but Gwen could see the horror of what happened to her in his eyes.

"What happened after the incinerator went off?" He asked, not saying anything about her appearance.

"When the fire came around me I tried to shield myself, but only a few spots weren't melted away as you can see. When the fire stopped I fell back down the chimney. I kept thinking that the fall would kill me since the fire didn't do the job, but something inside saved me. My survival instinct kicked in and my powers caught me before I could hit the bottom of the chimney. I had to float myself out, it took forever. I was so weak."

"Where'd you go when you got out?"

"I went out to the woods. Getting out of the chimney drained me so I had to rest for a little while, but I had to get you to you guys to get help. So when I had more strength I started walking through the woods. I'm sure I got lost a few times, but I finally found the trail I was looking for, but when I got to the end of it I realized…" Gwen trailed off. A depressed expression came over her face as she thought of her reasons for not getting help.

"Why'd didn't you come to me or Ben? Why'd you let us think you were dead?"

"Kevin, I saw my funeral. The trail led me to the graveyard, and I just thought it would be better for everyone to think I was dead." Her expression clouded over as remembered that day. "It really hurt me when I saw you weren't there."

"I came later, and you were the one that broke the bottle."

Gwen nodded. "Yes, I did that to remind you of your promise to me, and that hurt even more than you not showing up to my funeral."

"I've been keeping it now." He pleaded.

"I know, but Kevin, please promise not to become an alcoholic."

"With you back I know I won't, or else I'll be in big trouble."

Her depressed expression grew even sadder.

"Kevin…"

A sudden jolt from the back of the car cut her off. A laser cut through the metal that sealed them in, producing a hole in the back of the truck.

"Hey guys!" Jet Ray yelled to them as he flew up close to the back of the car. Then he saw Gwen. "Wow Gwen, what happened to you?" He was in a horrified awe of the sudden change.

"It's a long story." Gwen said.

The truck began to pull over quickly.

"Ben, get Gwen out of here." Kevin began to use the cloak to wrap Gwen up tightly, but not tight enough to cause discomfort. "Get Verdona, and get her to help Gwen." He handed Gwen over to Ben who just transformed into Big Chill to better carry her.

"She won't be able to do much for me." Gwen argued as Ben took her in his arms.

"She can't still try." Ben replied.

"Yeah she can." Kevin agreed.

Gwen saw no point in arguing with them further, but she knew her fate.

"I love you Kevin."

Kevin was taken aback her statement to him. It did warm his heart to have her feelings admitted to him. "Love you too Gwen."

Ben found this to be an awkward situation for him to be a part of. "Okay…Let's get going Gwen." Big Chill swooped up into the air and flew off back to home.

"Shouldn't you say that sort of thing in private?" Ben asked her.

"Yeah." Gwen replied and she thought of another thing to say but she didn't say it aloud to Ben.

_"But I hope that one day I'll say that again to him, and mean it with all my heart as I do now."_

WWWWWWWW

Kevin hopped out through the hole, and quickly morphed into the metal of the car doors. The aliens surrounded him jumping forward to catch him again, but Kevin had enough motivation to beat them all.

Gwen was alive, and as soon this fight was over he would go to her.

His arm was still in a sling, but he was soon using both hands to take care of them all. The pain didn't bother him now even though he was going to regret it later for the damage this would do.

Every punch and every kick he thought of her. Even when they tried to pile up on him and weigh him down he came bursting out just so he could get back to Gwen.

His phone started to ring as he was taking care of the last few that remained. He flipped it open when he got the chance and spoke to Ben.

"I'm busy Tennyson." He said as he knocked away a charging alien.

"You need to get over to the graveyard Kevin!" Ben said urgently.

Something was wrong. "Ben is Gwen okay?"

Ben sighed. Something was definitely wrong. "Ben, tell me what's going on?!"

"You just need to get over here before it's too late." Then Ben hanged up on him.

What did he mean by that?

Kevin ignored the last remaining aliens that were still conscious and began running back into the woods that surrounded the road. He knew the trail Gwen had mentioned earlier, and the aliens didn't take him far away enough to be lost in this section of the forest.

As soon as he found the trail he was running faster than he ever had before. Something was wrong, but he didn't understand why Gwen was in some sort of trouble. Her body may have been destroyed, but he knew Verdona could heal her and she would come back home and everything would be normal again. What was wrong?

As he neared the graveyard he began to see a strange purple light emitting from it. When he was out of the woods and in the graveyard he saw the source of the light.

Verdona was there, in her true form, floating a few feet away from the ground. Her arms were above her head as she held a circle of light in place.

Gwen was in the center of this light, floating, crying. Her hands covered her face as she sobbed.

"Gwen!" Kevin yelled running towards her.

She looked up then, tears still fell down her charred face, but she was happy to see Kevin here, for the last time that she would be human.

"Kevin!" It was all she yelled back to him before the light grew so purple she could no longer be seen by Kevin.

When the light faded away someone else had taken Gwen's place. Floating off the ground was a small Annodite, Gwen's height. On the ground were the human pieces of her that remained with her till this point. Now they lied on the ground like snake skin after it had been peeled away.

When she looked at Kevin there was no recognition of him in her glowing eyes.

By the time the process was over Kevin had reached them.

"Gwen?" He asked uncertainly.

"Gwen." The small Annodite mimicked him. "Is this my name?" She asked politely.

Kevin stared at her, not comprehending what was happening.

Gwen was destroyed, this is her new form, he thought all this slowly; and she doesn't remember me he concluded.

"She's waiting for an answer." A voice said from behind. Kevin looked back and saw Ben leaning against a tombstone with his head bent down to hide his face. He was probably crying.

Kevin looked back at Gwen and saw that she was waiting expectantly for an answer to her simple question.

"Yes, it's your name, Gwen."

WWWWWWWW

Sorry, but this is a tragedy. Send me a review.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry that I haven't updated, school/ life have been stressful and distracting…

WWWWWWW

Gwen looked at Kevin a moment longer and then looked to Verdona. "Gwen is my name?" She needed more assurance of this fact.

"Yes, Gwen." She replied. "You are Gwen, a newly born Annodite." Verdona almost gleamed with pride of finally being able to say that about her granddaughter. "I am Verdona."

"Verdona" She repeated.

"Yes, and this is Kevin and Ben." Verdona gestured to them showing her whose name belonged to whom.

Gwen examined them closely, and found herself feeling confused.

_"Today I am born, but they look so sad."_ Gwen thought.

They were distraught. Kevin had not seen any of this coming. He thought Gwen would be healed and back to normal with them, but now she was gone. He felt like an idiot for believing this would have ended well for all of them.

Ben was more distressed then Kevin because he knew Gwen could not have been saved, Gwen had known too, but wanted to die instead of loose her memories of Earth. He was given the choice by Verdona; he decided if she would live or die.

"How soon will you two be leaving?" Ben asked gravely.

Kevin looked startled. "What are you talking about, Ben?"

Ben didn't answer.

"Tennyson! What are you talking about?"

"Kevin." Verdona spoke in a warning tone. "Please do not stress her." Her eyes glanced over to Gwen who looked so confused about the way the people about her were interacting. "Ignore us." Verdona told her.

Gwen nodded, but she still felt flustered by all this.

Verdona floated over to Kevin, who kept his eyes averted from hers.

"Kevin, please listen to me. I'm sorry to cause you this pain, but I had no choice. If I had not of done this she would have died. It is the truth. Now that she is one of my species I must take her to my world and teach her. She's leaving with me."

Kevin continued to avert his eyes as he processed her words. When his eyes finally looked up to meet someone's, they did not meet Verdona's, they met Gwen's with an angry glare.

"Why couldn't you have come back to us sooner?"

"Kevin!" Ben warned.

"We could've saved you, and now you're leaving me. You could've made it." He whispered softly, but everyone, but Gwen, could hear his words.

"Don't be mad at Gwen Kevin, she isn't the one that deserves blame." Ben explained. "I am. I gave my consent to Verdona to do this. Gwen considered just letting herself die, but I couldn't let her do that." Ben waited for Kevin's reaction.

Kevin fell on his knees to the ground and crouched over, hands over his head to hold it down. What he was feeling was so frustrating. He wanted to knock Ben out for this, but he also wanted to thank him for saving her.

Gwen lived, but she couldn't remember who she was. Would she ever remember us? No. Could she learn to love me and Ben again? Or had she changed too much? He thought he'd never know the answer to that question. This Gwen might never come back to them again.

When he felt more in his head he looked up at Verdona. "It'll be sixty years before she can come back here, right?" Kevin asked more calmly.

Verdona glanced back at Gwen before she answered "Perhaps."

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked frustrated again.

"What I'm saying is she could have the chance of coming back sooner."

"She could come back sooner?" Ben asked hopefully.

"I can teach her self control alone, and let her use those to interact with the people of this planet more efficiently, but she cannot stay here permanently."

Kevin looked at the ground. Everything was so much more real now than before.

He stood up and walked over to his Gwen. Verdona moved to stop him, but Ben jumped up and grabbed her arm and whispered. "It's alright, he wouldn't hurt her."

Kevin stopped in front of her and she floated down to the ground to be at his level.

"Why are you so upset?" She asked.

Kevin thought before he answered. "I care a lot about you. I hate to see you leave."

"You and I are friends, and Ben is family?"

"Yes" He answered. "We were a team, but now you have to go to learn to be something more than what you originally were."

Gwen looked at Verdona who beckoned to her that they must go soon.

Gwen glided over to Ben and hugged him. "I will miss you family." She whispered.

"Don't worry." His voice shook as he held back tears. "We will always be family Gwen!"

She let him go and turned back to Kevin. Gwen went back to him and rested a hand on his cheek.

"It's strange." She began. "My heart feels so sad to part with you. Perhaps it remembers more than my mind."

"I know. I'm feeling the same thing now." His hand covered hers as he saved this moment in his mind.

Verdona took her by the shoulder and said "Gwen, please, we must go now."

Gwen allowed her to pull her away from Kevin to the center of the graveyard.

"Take my hand Gwen." She took it. "You will not be able to fly fully yet, but that is the first lesson." Verdona crouched than shot of into the sky like a comet, carrying Gwen with her to her new home.

"How soon do you think she'll be back?" Ben asked as he watched.

"My bet is as soon as she wants to." Kevin answered.

WWWWWWW

(Somewhat the end-oh but wait!)

The events that were to be did not change with the loss of Gwen.

Vilgax did return and demanded the Omnitrix be his.

Ben tried to unlock the secrets of the Omnitrix to face Vilgax.

And Gwen was not there to try and stop him.

The accident where Kevin mutated into a new form still occurred.

And Gwen was not there to try and help him.

Kevin and Ben still had to chase after all of Ben's aliens across town.

And Gwen was not there to help catch them.

Ben still defeated Vilgax with the help of his Grandpa, Kevin, and the other new Plumbers.

But he did it without Gwen's support.

The time was coming though that he would need his cousin.

The DN Aliens were coming to earth soon, and Gwen would be returning to help stop the invasion.

WWWWWWWWW

Keep an eye out for the sequel this summer.

Thanks to all of you for the support….

CuteasanOtter

TeamJakeward101

Atlashon

toolazytomakeanaccount

King of Stories

Scipio'sgirl

Skylark Evanson

…

BB Bunni-chan

Lauriedoriew

Roseland du Coudray

Star

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10

Badbella13

Mika Minx

sassyprincess


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